The invasive zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) has become an accepted biomonitor organism for trace elements, but it has yet to be studied along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Likewise, the relationships between tissue concentrations of elements, organism size and sediment concentrations of elements have not been fully explained. This study found that a variety of allometric variables such as length, dry tissue mass, shell mass, organism condition indices and shell thickness index were useful in explaining intra‐site variability in elemental concentrations. The flesh condition index of g tissue dry mass g‐1 shell mass explained variability at the most sites for most elements. Once allometric intra‐site variability was taken into account, additional significant differences were found between sites, although the net effect was small. Significant positive relationships between sediment and tissue concentrations were found for Pb and Zn, with a significant negative relationship for Cd. It was also found that Cu and Zn concentrations in tissues increased significantly along the shoreline in the southeasterly direction, while Hg increased in a northwesterly direction. Opportunistic sampling found that zebra mussels accumulate significantly higher concentrations of nearly all elements analyzed compared to Asian clams (Corbicula fluminea) at the same site. This study demonstrates the need to fully explain natural sources of variability before using biomonitors to explain spatial distributions of trace elements. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Non‐target aquatic organisms residing in wetlands are commonly exposed to current‐use pesticides through spray drift and runoff. However, it is frequently challenging to measure exposure due to rapid dissipation of pesticides from water and reduced bioavailability. Our hypothesis is that freshwater snails can serve as bioindicators of pesticide exposure based on their capacity to passively accumulate tissue residues. Helisoma trivolvis snails were evaluated as biomonitors of pesticide exposure using a fungicide...

Mercury (Hg) biomonitoring and toxicological risk assessments for marine mammals commonly sample different tissues, making comparisons to toxicity benchmarks and among species and regions difficult. Few studies have examined how life history events, such as fasting, influence the relationship between total Hg (THg) concentrations in different tissues. We evaluated the relationships between THg concentrations in blood, muscle, and hair of female and male northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) at the...

The freshwater Anacostia River watershed (MD, DC, USA) was surveyed for the sources of bioavailable EPA Priority Pollutants and toxic metals by active biomontoring (ABM) using the freshwater Asiatic clam Corbicula fluminea. The Anacostia River is a 456km2 tributary of the tidal freshwater Potomac River that includes the city of Washington DC where edible fish are highly contaminated with PCBs and chlordane. From 1999 to 2011 Corbicula were collected for ABM from a Potomac reference site and translocated in cages...

Marine mussels have long been used as biomonitors of contamination of trace elements, but little is known whether variation in tissue trace elements is significantly associated with those of macronutrients and major cations. Here, we examined the variability of macronutrients and major cations and their potential relationships with bioaccumulation of trace elements. We analyzed the concentrations of macronutrients (C, N, P, S), major cations (Na, Mg, K, Ca) and trace elements (Al, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As,...

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